F 
803 


BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 

«• 

THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


LAS  VEGAS 

Hot  Springs 
NEW  MEXICO 

By  W.  H.  Carruth 

Jt       Ninetieth   Thousand       £• 


Issued  by 

Passenger  Department 
Santa  Fe 
September,  1901 


SAYS  CHARLES  F.  LUMMIS— 

"Description  of  the  atmospheric  effects  of  the 
Southwest  is  the  most  hopeless  wall  against  which  lan- 
guage ever  butted  its  ineffectual  head.  The  light  that 
never  was  on  sea  or  land  spends  itself  on  the  adobe 
and  the  chaparo. 

"Under  that  ineffable  alchemy  of  the  sky,  mud  turns 
ethereal,  and  the  desert  is  a  revelation.  It  is  Egypt, 
with  every  rock  a  Sphinx,  every  peak  a  pyramid." 


LIBRARY 


I. 

The  Climate  of  New  Mexico. 


The         Montezuma 


L  a  s       Vega 


Hot        Springs 


The        Montezuma 


The  Climate  of  New   Mexico. 

'  T  N  the  afternoon*  they  came  into  a  land 

I  In  which  it  seemed  always  afternoon. 

1  All  round  the  coast  the  languid  air  did  swoon, 
Breathing  like  one  that  hath  a  weary  dream. 

****** 
The  charmed  sunset  lingered  low  adown 
In  the  red  West;  through  mountain  clefts  the  dale 
Was  seen  far  inland  and  the  yellow  downs." 

That  is  all  very  beautiful  and  satisfactory,  if  you  re- 
serve  the  right  to  specify  what  sort  of  an  afternoon 
it  is  to  be.  A  weary  and  nerve-strained  generation 
often  sighs  for  the  land  of  the  Lotus-eaters,  but  sup- 
pose the  afternoon  in  point  were  a  July  afternoon  in 
Chicago  or  St.  Louis,  or  Indianapolis,  who  then  could 
picture  himself  as  settling  down  into  the  dreamful  ease 
of  Paradise  and  singing  "We  will  no  longer  roam?" 
No,  there  are  afternoons  and  afternoons.  Now,  if  the 
poet  had  specified  a  land  in  which  it  seemed  always 
morning,  it  would  have  been  a  safer  climatic  factor  to 
accept  without  qualification. 

But  if  you  are  going  into  the  mountains  of  New 
Mexico  you  need  not  be  so  cautious  regarding  the 
specifications;  perpetual  morning,  perpetual  fore- 


*  For  details  as  to  hours  see  through    train  schedules  in  the 
official  time  tables  of  the  Santa  Fe. 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 

5 


The        Montezuma 

noon,  perpetual  afternoon  of  the  Lotus-land  variety, 
all  are  there. 

New  Mexico  itself  is  a  great  empire  three  hundred 
and  thirty-five  by  three  hundred  and  sixty-seven  miles, 
and  has  quite  a  variety  of  climates,  though  all  possess 
the  common  features  of  dryness,  combined  with  consid- 
erable elevation.  Out  on  the  plains  and  in  the  lower  val- 
leys it  is  dry  and  hot;  up  in  the  mountains  it  is  dry  and 
cool.  For  climate  is  a  complex  of  several  elements :  tem- 
perature, humidity,  elevation  or  rarity  of  the  atmos- 
phere, amount  of  sunshine;  and  differently  combined, 
these  give  vastly  different  results.  Every  one  knows 
that  elevation  means  lower  temperature — about  one 
degree  for  each  eight  hundred  feet,  or  six  degrees  in 
a  mile  of  elevation — and  every  one  knows  how  heat 
and  cold  affect  him  in  the  location  to  which  he  is 
accustomed.  Every  one  knows,  too,  that  elevation 
means  increased  rarity  of  the  atmosphere — that  is, 
less  oxygen  in  a  given  inspiration  of  the  lungs.  But 
only  those  who  have  climbed  mountains  know  the 
physical  effects  of  this  greater  rarity  of  atmosphere, 
and  few  of  these  understand  the  real  hygienic  results. 

Still  fewer  know,  by  experience  or  otherwise,  the 
influence  of  greater  or  less  humidity  combined  with 
these  other  factors,  either  in  the  immediate  results  upon 
the.  sensations  or  upon  the  functions  and  the  general 
health.  A  brief  explanation  in  this  line  is  requisite  to 
an  understanding  of  the  benefits  of  the  climate  of  New 
Mexico. 

Las       Vegas       Hot        S  p  r  i  n  g  s 


The         Montezuma 


L  a 


Vegas        Hot       Springs 


The        Montezuma 


A.  T.  &  S-  F. 

RAILWAY 

STATION 

LAS  VEGAS. 


HOTEL 
CASTANEDA, 
LAS  VEGAS. 


Las       Vegas      Hot       Springs 


The        Montezuma 

Many  people,  and  among  them  even  medical  prac- 
titioners, cherish  the  dangerous  delusion  that  a  change 
is  all  that  is  necessary  to  recuperation  and  restoration 
of  health.  It  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world 
from  what  and  to  what  the  change  is  taken.  In  cli- 
mate, as  in  food,  one  man's  medicine  is  another  man's 
poison.  For  this  reason,  those  contemplating  a  change 
should  understand  their  own  needs  and  the  probable 
influence  of  the  new  climate. 

Extremes  of  temperature  alone  signify  little.  Pro- 
viding the  fluctuations  are  not  frequent  and  sudden,  a 
man,  even  in  delicate  health,  will  not  suffer  from  a 
temperature  with  a  minimum  chronically  below  zero. 
And  again,  a  given  temperature  in  a  humid  and  over- 
cast region,  like  that  of  North  Germany  in  winter,  is 
vastly  more  penetrating  than  the  same  absolute  tem- 
perature in  a  comparatively  dry  and  sunny  country 
like  the  plains  of  Western  America.  With  the  mer- 
cury at  32°  (which,  in  fact,  it  rarely  reaches  here  dur- 
ing the  daytime,  though  at  night  it  goes  below 
that  in  winter),  one  does  not  feel  the  cold  so 
much  on  the  veranda  of  the  Montezuma  Hotel,  in 
New  Mexico,  as  at  50°  on  the  coast  of  Maine  or  of 
Denmark.  On  the  other  hand,  the  absence  of  moisture 
in  the  air  makes  the  same  degree  of  heat  much  more 
tolerable  than  in  a  more  humid  atmosphere,  so  that 
men  labor  in  the  fields  without  inconvenience  in  lower 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona  at  a  temperature  of  110°, 
while  they  are  prostrated  on  the  streets  of  Chicago 

Las       Vegas        Hot       S  p  r  i  n  g  s 


The        Montezuma 

or  New  York  when  the  mercury  reaches  86°.  Sun- 
stroke is  unknown  in  New  Mexico. 

In  a  word,  there  is  a  vast  difference,  in  the  dry  at- 
mosphere of  so-called  "arid  America,"  between  the 
sensible  temperature  and  that  indicated  by  the  ther- 
mometer upon  which  we  are  accustomed  to  base  our 
ideas  of  degrees  of  heat  and  cold. 

The  ordinary  thermometer  gives  the  temperature  of 
the  air  only,  and  takes  no  notice  of  the  other  factors 
present. 

The  human  organism,  when  perspiring  freely,  evap- 
orates the  moisture  from  its  surface,  and  thus  lowers 
its  temperature.  The  meteorological  instrument  that 
registers  the  temperature  of  evaporation,  and  thus  in 
a  great  measure  the  heat  really  felt  by  the  human  body, 
is  the  wet-bulb  thermometer.  When  the  air  is  moist 
to  saturation  (that  is,  holding  all  the  moisture  it  can 
without  precipitation)  the  readings  of  the  ordinary 
and  wet-bulb  thermometer  are  the  same,  and  the  sen- 
sible temperature  and  that  of  the  air  are  equal.  In  the 
East,  where  the  air  is  always  charged  with  more  or  less 
moisture,  the  difference  is  not  great;  but  in  the  West 
and  Southwest,  on  account  of  the  extreme  dryness  in 
the  summer  time,  the  sensible  temperature  is  often  20° 
to  30°  lower  than  the  air  temperature,  and  sometimes 
even  more. 

This  important  circumstance  explains  the  fact  that 
the  greater  daily  range  of  temperature  in  New  Mexico, 
as  compared  with  a  lower  and  more  humid  region,  is 

Las         Vegas        H ot       Springs 


The        Montezuma 


Las       Vegas       Hot       Springs 


The        Montezuma 


Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 


The        Montezuma 

nevertheless  in  no  sense  a  menace  to  sensitive  lungs 
and  delicate  constitutions.  In  the  same  connection,  it 
is  to  be  considered  that  the  lower  temperatures  occur 
at  night,  whereas  most  men,  and  especially  invalids, 
spend  their  waking  time  in  the  day  and  in  the  sunshine. 
If  all  the  readings  of  the  thermometer  were  taken  in 
the  sunshine,  the  daily  range,  even  in  the  arid  regions, 
would  be  very  moderate  indeed. 

The  annual  precipitation  at  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs 
is  only  12  inches,  and  from  September  to  June  it  is 
only  a  small  fraction  of  an  inch  monthly. 

The  record  of  five  years'  observations  at  the  Hot 
Springs  give  the  following  mean  temperatures:  Jan- 
uary, 41.0;  February,  49.0;  March,  56.0;  April,  58.0; 
May,  61.4;  June,  71.4;  July,  74.0;  August,  71.9;  Sep- 
tember, 65.0;  October,  55.4;  November,  53.7;  Decem- 
ber, 52.0,  or  a  mean  annual  temperature  of  59.07. 

The  average  temperature  in  winter  at  the  Hot 
Springs  is  fully  20  degrees  higher  than  at  Denver, 
while  in  summer  it  averages  from  10°  to  15°  lower.  The 
daily  range  for  the  months  from  June,  1899,  to  June,  1900, 
was  as  follows:  June,  32;  July,  26;  August,  31;  Sep- 
tember, 30;  October,  25;  November,  24;  December, 
27;  January  (1900),  27;  February,  27;  March,  30; 
April,  26;  May,  26;  June,  30. 

Despite  the  considerable  extent  of  this  range,  guests 
of  the  Montezuma  sit  on  the  open  veranda  throughout 
the  winter  without  inconvenience.  The  higher  tem- 
perature and  smaller  range  in  the  sun,  as  compared 

Las       Vegas        Hot        Springs 

13 


The        Montezuma 

with  the  shade,  explain  the  seeming  -anomaly  that 
guests  may  be  skating  in  midwinter  on  the  ponds  of 
the  Gallinas  under  the  perpetual  shadow  of  the  high 
south  walls  of  the  canon  at  the  same  time  that  ladies 
sit  on  the  open  veranda  sewing  with  bare  hands. 

And  while  a  high  humidity  makes  men  more  sensi- 
tive to  variations  of  heat  and  cold,  it  is,  in  its  turn,  the 
most  important  factor  in  the  influence  of  temperature 
upon  health. 

This  important  feature  of  humidity  is  affected  by 
altitude,  which  reduces  the  absolute  capacity  of  the 
air  to  carry  moisture,  but  still  more  by  conditions 
which  deprive  the  atmosphere  of  its  moisture  by  pre- 
cipitation. Thus  the  absolute  vapor  content  of  the  air 
on  the  Pacific  side  of  the  Sierras  is  greater  at  sea  level 
than  at  an  elevation  of  one  mile,  but  the  humidity 
at  a  given  elevation  in  New  Mexico  is  vastly  less  than 
at  the  same  elevation  on  the  western  slope  of  the 
Sierras,  because  the  mountains  have  caused  the  pre- 
cipitation of  much  of  the  moisture  contained  in  the 
air  currents  from  the  Pacific,  and  the  breezes  that 
reach  New  Mexico,  have  been,  as  it  were,  passed 
through  a  wringer,  and  over  a  drier — the  plateau  of 
Arizona. 

A  few  plain  words  regarding  the  hygienic  influence 
of  climate.  Three  of  the  chief  organs  of  the  body, 
the  lungs,  the  skin  and  the  kidneys,  are  engaged 
in  essentially  the  same  important  work — the  elimina- 
tion of  waste  tissues.  Pure,  aseptic  air,  is  a  direct 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 

14 


The        Montezum 


Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 


The        Montezum 


Las       Vegas      Hot         Springs 


16 


The         Montezuma 

requisite  to  the  healthy  action  of  the  lungs.  Regular 
life  and  exercise  in  the  open  air  will,  indeed,  secure 
such  action  in  any  climate,  but  much  cloudiness  and 
the  rigor  and  sudden  changes  of  other  climates  dis- 
courage life  in  the  open  air,  and  thus  weakness  of 
the  lungs  is  induced;  or,  even  if  out-of-door  life  is 
pursued,  the  sudden  changes,  combined  with  careless- 
ness, produce  congestion,  which  develops  into  catarrh, 
bronchitis,  etc.  Clogged,  overburdened,  insufficiently 
aerated,  and  perhaps  inflamed  and  congested,  as  the 
result  of  the  severer  climate,  the  lungs  become  an  easy 
prey  to  the  tubercular  bacillus,  which  only  the  oppo- 
site conditions  will  overcome. 

The  failure  of  either  skin  or  kidneys  to  do  their  work 
for  any  length  of  time,  means  the  overburdening  and 
ultimate  disease  of  the  other;  and  when  this  result  is 
established  there  ensues  a  clogging  of  organs  and  tis- 
sues with  the  waste  matter,  which  is  really  a  poison, 
and  we  have  a  condition  of  auto-toxication.  In  the 
line  of  this  process  and  its  results  we  have  the  widely 
prevalent  diseases :  Rheumatism,  gout,  neuralgia  and 
kidney  complaint. 

Now  for  the  relation  of  the  New  Mexican  climate 
to  these  diseases.  Much  the  greater  part  of  our  per- 
spiration is  insensible.  But  this  insensible  perspiration 
is  at  a  minimum  in  an  atmosphere  surcharged  with 
moisture.  It  is  true  that  vigorous  exercise  in  the  open 
air  induces  sensible  perspiration,  but  vigorous  exercise, 
too,  is  discouraged  in  other  climates  through  a  con- 

L  a  s     Vegas        Hot        Spri    ngs 


The         Montezuma 

siderable  part  of  the  year  by  the  same  circumstances 
that  prove  unfavorable  to  the  lungs.  Thus  the  skin 
fails  to  relieve  the  lungs,  and  the  system  in  general, 
and  the  lungs  carry  little  of  the  labor  of  the  skin.  A 
dog  does  nearly  all  his  perspiring  through  his  lungs — 
that  is  what  is  going  on  when  he  pants — but  man  does 
not  know  the  knack  of  it. 

The  kidneys,  much  more  than  the  lungs,  depend  for 
health  upon  the  vigorous  action  of  the  skin,  and  while 
vigorous  exercise  stimulates  them  and  all  other  organs 
to  healthy  action,  the  absence  of  ample  life  in  the 
open  air  leads  to  their  being  overtaxed,  and  the  re- 
sults are  congestion,  and  gout,  and  rheumatism.  In 
the  body,  as  in  the  cosmos,  all  are  but  parts  of  one 
tremendous  whole,  and  if  one  member  suffers,  all  the 
others  suffer  with  it.  If  one  or  all  of  these  important 
organs  grow  weak  or  diseased,  there  may  result  a 
"sympathetic  strike"  in  any  other  organs,  especially  in 
such  as  may  have  an  hereditary  tendency  to  weakness. 
Some  of  the  functions  most  apt  to  suffer  in  connection 
with  those  already  named,  are  the  digestive  and 
the  nervous. 

And  now  for  the  hygienic  and  therapeutic  value  of 
our  New  Mexico  climate: 

Come  to  the  Sunland,  and  what  will  it  do  for  you? 
The  sunshine  alone — three  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
days  of  it  in  a  year! — will  entice  you  to  spend  most  of 
your  life  in  the  open  air.  And  such  air!  Pure,  cool, 
aseptic,  life-giving.  If  you  are  well  and  strong  you 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 

18 


The         Montezuma 

will  walk  in  it,  ride  in  it,  climb  mountains  in  it,  grow 
strong  in  it.  If  you  are  frail  or  weak,  you  will  want  to 
do  the  same,  and  only  the  restrictive  advice  of  a  wise 
physician  will  keep  you  from  overdoing.  But  you 
can  sit  and  bask  in  the  sunshine  and  get  most  of  its 
benefits.  Aside  from  its  cheering  influence  upon  the 
feelings,  there  is  a  marvelous  power  in  the  New  Mex- 
ico sunshine,  which  medical  science  can  only  record, 
not  explain.  Warm  as  the  sun  is  sometimes  in  mid- 
summer, it  never  withers,  but  merely  mellows  and 
ripens.  It  goes  through  bone  and  marrow,  dissolving 
all  malarial  drift  and  clog,  softening  the  memories  of 
past  aches  and  pains,  and  reconciling  the  system  to  the 
new  life  it  is  to  enter  upon  under  the  influence  of  new 
and  natural  stimuli. 

But  the  real  hygienic  work  is  done  by  the  dry  and 
rarefied  atmosphere.  The  rarer  air  compels  deeper 
respiration  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  oxygenation  in 
the  lungs.  The  increased  exertion  of  the  lungs  opens 
up  passages  that  may  just  be  closing  from  inaction 
and  neglect,  and  this  result  ensues  without  any  mus- 
cular exertion  on  your  part,  and  war  is  declared  even 
upon  the  very  germs  of  tuberculosis.  Although  this 
air  may  not  destroy  the  germs  of  this  direful  malady, 
it  destroys  the  conditions  favorable  to  their  develop- 
ment, and  limits  their  ravages  in  those  already  affected. 


Las        Vegas       Hot       Springs 

19 


The         Montezuma 


Las       Vegas       Hot       Spri  n  g  s 


20 


II. 


Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs. 


The         Montezuma 


Las       Vega 


Hot        Spring 


The        Montezuma 


Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs. 


WHILE   each  locality  in   New   Mexico   has,   in 
general,  these  advantages  of  a  high  and  dry 
climate,  the  location  of  the  Las  Vegas  Hot 
Springs  and  the  Montezuma  Hotel  adds  to 
them     certain     others     which     fit     it     to     be     a     rest 
and  health  resort  without  a  superior  in  the  world.    The 
altitude,  6,767  feet,  and  the  proximity  of  the  Las  Vegas 
spur   of    the    Rocky     Mountains,   insure    against    the 
greater    and    more    relaxing    heat    of    the    plains    and 
lower  valleys.    The  Montezuma  Hotel  and  the  Springs 
are   a    few   hundred    feet   from   the   lower    end    of   the 
canyon  of  the  *Gallinas  River,  where  it  debouches  upon 
the  plains  which  give  their  name,  fLas  Vegas,  to  the 
commercial  metropolis  of  Northern  New  Mexico,  six 
miles  below. 

Many  people  have  the  idea  that  Las  Vegas  and  Las 
Vegas  Hot  Springs  are  one  and  the  same  place.  New 
arrivals,  who  have  had  their  mail  directed  to  Las 
Vegas  are  surprised  to  find  that  it  does  not  reach  them 
promptly  at  the  Montezuma.  There  are,  in  fact,  three 
post-offices,  called  respectively  Las  Vegas,  East  Las 


*L,ocal  pronunciation,  Gah-yee'-nahs. 
tPronounce,  Lahs-vay'-gahs. 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 

23 


The        Montezuma 

Vegas,  and  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs.  The  East  Las 
Vegas  post-office  is  situated  in  what  is  called  the  "New 
Town,"  which  is  separated  from  "Old  Town"  by  the 
Gallinas  River.  In  East  Las  Vegas  the  population  is 
almost  entirely  American,  while  in  Las  Vegas  proper  the 
proportion  of  Mexican  citizens  is  much  larger  than  that 
of  American.  The  two  divisions  form  practically  one 
town  of  something  over  eight  thousand  inhabitants. 

The  growth  of  Las  Vegas  has  been  phenomenal  in 
the  past  few  years,  and  it  is  now  the  second  city  in 
size  and  importance  in  the  territory.  It  is  the  largest 
wool-shipping  point  in  New  Mexico,  and  merchants 
and  commission  houses  do  a  large  business,  reaching 
out  many  miles  through  the  country  about.  The  head- 
quarters of  the  New  Mexico  Division  of  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  &  Santa  Fe  Railway  are  located  there,  and 
many  railroad  men  have  comfortable  homes  in  the 
town.  The  residences  will  compare  favorably  in 
architecture  and  comfort  with  those  of  most  East- 
ern towns  of  its  size.  The  Territorial  Normal 
School  is  quartered  in  a  very  handsome  brown-stone 
building,  which  would  do  credit  to  any  community. 
The  public  schools  are  well-graded,  efficiently  man- 
aged, and  afford  every  facility  for  the  proper  educa- 
tion of  the  children.  The  High  School  uses  part  of 
the  Normal  School  building. 

There  is  a  National  Bank  in  each  division  of  Las 
Vegas,  and  in  East  Las  Vegas  are  found  churches  of 
every  denomination,  with  attractive  and  commodious 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 

24 


The        Montezuma 


CIGAR 
AND 
NEWS 
STAND. 


Las       Vegas       Hot        Springs 


25 


The         Montezuma 


Las        Vegas       Hot        Springs 


26 


The         Montezuma 

buildings.  The  stores  of  every  kind  are  well-stocked, 
and  their  prices  are  reasonable,  and  goods  of  satisfac- 
tory quality.  They  offer  to  their  customers  the  con- 
veniences found  in  Eastern  stores  of  the  same  classes, 
and  free  delivery  of  purchases,  courteous  attention  and 
fair  dealing  are  the  rule. 

The  new  station  of  the  Santa  Fe  system  is  an  attract- 
ive building,  and  in  close  proximity  to  it  is  the  Hotel 
Castaneda,  which  combines  the  functions  of  a  railway 
eating  house  and  hotel.  It  is  a  strictly  modern  house, 
handsomely  furnished  throughout,  and  when  we  say 
that  it  is  operated  by  the  Harvey  system,  no  further 
guarantee  of  its  excellence  is  needed. 

The  Hot  Springs  branch  of  the  Santa  Fe  Railway 
runs  five  trains  daily  each  way  between  Las  Vegas 
and  the  Springs,  furnishing  convenient  service  between 
the  two  points,  bringing  within  easy  reach  of  the 
guests  of  the  Montezuma  department  stores,  dress- 
makers, curio  shops,  and  dentists — and  who  has  not 
had  the  toothache? 

The  canyon  of  the  Gallinas  runs  here  nearly  east  and 
west,  and  the  hotel  and  the  Springs  are  thus  sheltered 
from  the  direct  force  of  the  southwest  winds  with 
their  disagreeable  freight  of  sand,  which  may  be  seen 
on  occasional  windy  days  like  a  river  of  mist,  far  out 
across  the  vegas  to  the  southeast. 

As  if  to  leave  nothing  to  desire,  Nature  has  planted 
in  this  favored  locality  a  series  of  mineral  springs  of 
varied  temperature  and  chemical  composition,  the 

Las       Vegas       Hot      Springs 

27 


The        Montezuma 

therapeutic  effects  of  which  are  as  yet  only  half  known 
and  applied.  But  the  long  experience  of  the  natives 
and  early  Spanish  settlers,  together  with  the  briefer, 
but  more  conclusive  observation  of  the  medical  staff 
of  the  Montezuma  Hotel,  have  demonstrated  the  bene- 
fit of  the  waters  regularly  employed,  as  stimulating  to 
the  digestive  organs,  as  well  as  to  skin,  kidneys  and 
liver. 

But  man  cannot  live  by  climate  alone.  Recognizing 
the  necessity  of  making  life  in  this  region  comfortable 
and  agreeable,  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe 
Railway  Company  has  erected  in  convenient  proximity 
to  the  Springs  a  splendid  hotel,  equipped  with  a  full 
staff  of  officers  and  medical  attendants,  and  made  ac- 
cessible from  the  main  line  at  Las  Vegas  by  a  branch 
road  with  frequent  trains. 

The  Montezuma  Hotel  is  a  handsome  four-story 
structure  in  the  chateau  style,  built  of  grayish  red 
sandstone  and  slate.  It  stands  on  the  north  side  of 
the  Gallinas  where  the  canyon  widens  to  a  small  amphi- 
theatre, about  one  hundred  feet  above  the  river  bed,* 
and  commanding  attractive  views  of  the  pine-clad 
slopes  of  the  surrounding  hills,  and  a  splendid  vista 
through  the  canyon  mouth  across  the  plains  and  mesas 
to  the  dark  forest  ridge,  thirty  miles  away  on  the 
southwestern  horizon.  The  floor  of  the  amphitheatre 


*The  original  Montezuma,  burned  some  fifteen  years  ago,  was 
in  a  less  sunny  and  commanding  location  close  beside  the  stream. 
The  present  structure  is  practically  fire-proof. 

Las       Vegas        Hot        Springs 

28 


The 


Montezuma 


Las       Vegas        Hot        Springs 


The        Montezuma 


Las       Vegas        Hot        Springs 


30 


The        Montezuma 

is  occupied  by  a  pretty  lawn  of  several  acres,  with 
firm  turf,  primeval  pines,  seats,  flower-beds,  and  ten- 
nis and  croquet  grounds,  while  the  steep  slope  up  to 
the  hotel  is  tastily  parked  with  winding  drives  and 
walks. 

Supplementing  its  hundred  and  twenty  chambers, 
every  one  with  a  pleasant  view,  the  hotel  has  a  hand- 
some ash-finished  office  with  a  spacious  fireplace, 
which  does  valiant  service  of  cool  evenings;  three 
large  parlors,  a  convenient  writing-room,  a  dining- 
room  capable  of  seating  comfortably  two  hundred 
guests,  over  five  hundred  running  feet  of  wide  ver- 
anda, of  which  some  seventy  feet  are  converted  by 
glass  walls  into  a  sun-parlor;  large  bowling  alleys  and 
billiard  rooms,  and  a  casino  sixty  by  one  hundred 
feet  with  fine  dancing  floor,  gymnasium  apparatus, 
and  stage  for  entertainments  and  private  theatricals. 

The  Montezuma  is  heated  by  steam,  and  lighted  by 
electricity,  the  power  being  generated  at  a  building  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  away,  and  so  located  that  the  atmos- 
phere at  the  hotel  is  never  polluted  by  smoke.  There 
is,  also,  a  Hale  standard  elevator  for  the  use  of  guests. 

A  few  rods  from  the  main  building  are,  on  one  side 
of  the  park,  two  neat  cottages  for  use  as  hospitals  in 
case  of  need,  and  on  the  other  the  old  Mountain  House 
ready  to  accommodate  the  overflow  from  the  Monte- 
zuma, and  a  little  back  the  company  stables,  which 
provide  carriages,  saddle  horses  and  burros  at  mod- 
erate rates. 

Las       Vegas       Hot       Springs 

31 


The        Montezuma 


Just  beside  the  garrulous  Gallinas  stands  the  bath- 
house, a  center  of  interest  to  well  and  weak  alike. 
To  this  site  rheumatic  red  men  and  wild-eyed  melan- 
choly Mexicans  have  for  centuries  made  pilgrimage 
from  hundreds  of  miles  around  to  seek  the  relief  af- 
forded by  the  miraculous  aguas  calientes.  While  yet 
there  were  "A  thousand  miles  on  either  hand,  where 
an  Englishman  never  had  been,"  the  conquering  cabal- 
lero  cavorted  here  in  the  salubrious  mud,  surrounded 
by  his  dona  and  nifios,  just  as  many  a  Saxon  boy 
luxuriates  in  the  "mud  hole"  of  his  fondly  loved 
"Wilier  Creek."  But  the  peat-beds  of  the  Gallinas, 
saturated  with  the  saline  waters  of  Spring  No.  6,  are 
a  mud  hole  for  the  gods.  The  practical  Anglo-Saxon 
has  taken  charge,  and  if  the  peat  bath  is  less  pictur- 
esque than  the  mud  hole  of  the  ancient  ojos  calientes, 
it  is  vastly  more  beneficent  and  more  accessible  to 
those  who  most  need  it  While  the  tub,  plunge,  pack 
and  vapor  baths  in  the  Hot  Springs  waters  are  all  bene- 
ficial in  affections  of  the  skin,  liver  and  kidneys,  the 
peat  bath  is  the  height  of  salubrity,  as  well  as  of  luxury; 
an  additional  feature  of  the  luxury  is  that  each  bather 
has  his  individual  mud.  The  wholesome  and  aseptic 
peat-porridge  clings  like  an  all-pervading  poultice 
about  the  person  of  the  patient,  opens  every  pore,  and 
reaches  straight  to  the  liver  and  the  kidneys,  inciting 
them  to  freer  action.  Cases  of  patients  who  have  taken 
the  peat  baths  for  a  time,  left  the  Hot  Springs  and 
then  returned,  with  observations  on  their  urine,  demon- 

Las        Vegas       Hot        Springs 

32 


The         Montezuma 

strate  beyond  question  the  powerful  effects  of  the  baths 
upon  these  organs.  Contrary  to  all  expectation,  the 
effect  of  this  poultice  is  not  weakening  or  depleting. 
The  stimulating  effect  upon  the  digestive  functions  is 
such  that  patients  have  actually  gained  in  weight  while 
taking  three  peat  baths  a  week. 

For  the  pleasure-seeking  guest  of  the  hotel  the  bath- 
house contains  a  little  gem  of  a  natatorium,  fifteen 
feet  by  fifty-four,  sloping  from  four  to  nine  feet  in 
depth,  and  supplied  with  "hot  water  of  No.  6  Spring, 
which  is  reduced  to  a  suitable  temperature.  Over  the 
water  are  rings  and  trapeze,  and  the  opportunity  for  fun 
is  maximum.  The  saline  water  makes  the  natatorium 
an  exceptionably  good  place  for  learning  to  swim. 


Las       Vegas        Hot        Springs 


The         Montezuma 


TREATMENT 
ROOM 


BATH 
HOUSE. 


Las       Vegas       H ot        Spring 


III. 

Surroundings  of  the  Montezuma. 


The         Montezuma 


Las        Vegas        Hot        Springs 


The        Montezuma 


Surroundings  of  the   Montezuma. 

THROUGHOUT    the    greater   part   of   the   year 
the    surroundings    of    the    Montezuma    remind 
one  of  those  of  the  lower  Alps.     There  is,  in- 
deed, no  perpetual  snow  in  sight,  but  in  other 
respects    the    comparison    is    justified.     The    musical 
tinkle    of    goat    bells    is    the    first    sound    the    guest 
hears   as   he   awakens   from   peaceful   sleep   in   the    re- 
freshing  air   that   swims    freely   through   his    chamber. 
The  perfect  quiet  of  the  hotel  in  the  early  morning  is 
in  gratifying  contrast  with  the  sleep-banning  bustle  of 
the  average  city  establishment. 

From  whatever  window  one  may  look,  there  is  an 
interesting  prospect — a  kop,  a  mountain  ridge,  the  rib- 
bon-strata of  the  canyon,  the  little  meadow  on  the  height 
opposite,  the  "bear-slide,"  the  pine-covered  slopes  lead- 
ing away  toward  the  main  range,  or  the  vegas  seen 
through  the  canyon's  mouth — everywhere  there  is  some- 
thing to  tempt  the  reinvigorated  traveler  to  tramp  and 
climb. 

And  every  little  climb  repays  the  effort  with  a  new 
revelation  of  the  beauties  of  the  region.  One  may 
"stand  tiptoe  upon  a  little  hill"  that  slopes  up  two 
hundred  feet  before  the  very  door  of  the  hotel,  or 
mount  the  summit  of  some  loftier  ridge  from  which 

Las       Vegas       Hot        Springs 

37 


The        Montezuma 

he  sweeps  the  peaceful  plains  with  almost  the  feelings 
of  a  Cortez,  when  "he  stared  at  the  Pacific,  silent  upon 
a  peak  in  Darien."  And  the  view  from  the  summit  is 
not  the  explorer's  only  reward  if  he  have  any  eye  for 
the  minor  beauties  of  Nature.  Unlike  many  of  the 
New  Mexican  foothills,  the  valley  of  the  Gallinas  is 
well  clad  with  shrub  and  tree,  and  the  whole  effect  of 
the  prospect  along  it  is  verdurous.  The  pifion  pine, 
with  its  short  needles,  the  most  familiar  evergreen  of 
the  Southwest,  the  Norway  fir,  cedar  and  juniper,  and 
under  the  steep  south  walls  of  the  canyon  the  tapering 
blue  spruce — these,  with  some  mixture  of  willow,  cot- 
tonwood  and  aspen,  and  under  and  among  all  the  scrub- 
oak  which  paints  the  autumn  views — these  are  the  larger 
representatives  of  Nature's  unroaming  children.  Closer 
to  the  ground  the  various  and  four-fold  year  distributes 
his  dower  of  floral  charms  in  sufficient  variety  to  sat- 
isfy the  flower-lover  and  fascinate  the  botanist.  The 
columbine  is  the  glory  of  the  early  summer;  mountain 
pink,  golden  rod,  campanula,  asters,  a  delicate  sky-blue 
spiderwort  and  a  variety  of  ferns,  with  Indian  plume, 
coreopsis  and  sunflower  are  some  of  the  flowers  one 
may  pick  within  five  hundred  feet  of  the  Montezuma. 

There  are  birds  enough  in  the  canyon  to  keep  one 
from  growing  lonesome  without  intruding  too  much 
upon  the  rarer  features  of  the  region.  The  yellow  war- 
bler hides  among  the  branches  of  the  pine  and  "lets 
his  illumined  being  o'errun  with  the  deluge  of  sum- 
mer it  receives,"  just  as  his  cousin  does  in  Illinois  or 

Las       V  e  g  as        Hot       Springs 


The         Montezuma 


THE 

SWIMMING 

POOL. 


RECEPTION 
ROOM. 


Las       Vegas        Hot        Spring 


The         Montezuma 


Las       Vegas       Hot      Spring 


The        Montezuma 

Massachusetts.  The  Rocky  Mountain  jay,  deep  blue 
shading  to  black,  without  lighter  markings,  flits  almost 
noiselessly  from  tree  to  tree.  He  seems  so  well  satis- 
fied with  the  climate  that  he  seldom  scolds  as  does  his 
cousin  of  the  Mississippi  Valley.  Occasionally  one  sees 
the  mountain  magpie,  and  overhead,  often  the  only 
fleck  upon  the  marvelous  blue  of  the  sky,  sails  inces- 
santly the  watchful  buzzard,  a  tantalizing  target  for  the 
ambitious  marksman. 

The  Gallinas  canyon  runs  the  gamut  from  pretty  to 
grand.  Here  "God  ploughed  one  day  with  an  earth- 
quake and  drove  his  furrow  deep;"  and  down  the  rock- 
ribbed  furrow  runs  the  crystal  current  of  the  Gallinas, 
fed  by  springs,  and  independent  of  refrigerators.  A 
good  road  keeps  close  to  the  stream,  frequently  bridg- 
ing it  and  enabling  the  wanderer  to  get  the  best  effects 
of  water  and  rock,  and  tree  and  sky.  Just  opposite 
the  Montezuma  Hotel  the  wall  of  the  canyon  shows  the 
line  of  union  between  palaeozoic  and  later  rock.  On 
one  side  slope  away  the  clean-cut  outlines  of  quartz 
and  vari-colored  granite;  on  the  other  limestone  and 
shales.  Just  outside  the  mouth  of  the  canyon  the  lime- 
stone and  sandstone  strata  lie  approximately  level.  An 
upturned  stratum  of  limestone  constitutes  the  outer 
wall  of  the  canyon,  and  the  red  and  gray  shales  and 
limestone  stand  on  edge  up  to  the  fault  where  they 
meet  the  feldspar. 

For  miles  up  the  canyon  the  strata  are  in  the  same 
position,  straight  on  edge  and  at  right  angles  to  the 

Las        Vegas       Hot       Springs 


The        Montezuma 

course  of  the  stream.  The  river  has  not  allowed  its  bed 
to  fill  with  boulders,  and  accordingly  the  red,  white 
and  blue  tints  of  the  granite  show  like  an  expanse  of 
bunting  beneath  and  beside  the  clear  waters.  Other 
canyons  may  show  more  imposing  walls,  but  surely  none 
can  excel  that  of  the  Gallinas  in  the  oriental  brilliance 
of  its  coloring.  Everywhere  there  is  ample  shade  and 
inviting  space  for  picnicking  and  camping.  It  is  a 
paradise  for  the  amateur  geologist,  and  belike  for  the 
professional  also. 

Geology  is  the  handmaid  of  mineralogy,  and  there  is 
no  more  fascinating  guide  in  mountain  rambles  than 
the  hope  of  discovering  a  lead  of  some  precious  metal. 
In  very  fact,  the  Las  Vegas  spur  is  as  promising  ground 
for  prospecting  as  parts  of  New  Mexico  where  great 
"finds"  have  been  made.  If  the  amateur  prospector, 
through  the  tributary  gorges  and  slopes  of  the  Gallinas, 
does  not  allow  himself  to  be  so  far  absorbed  by  the 
"accursed  hunger  for  gold,"  of  which  Virgil  sings,  as 
to  lose  the  beauty  of  the  scenery,  he  will  in  any  case 
get  his  mind  off  his  business  and  learn  something  of 
geology,  while  he  may,  like  many  a  bigger  fool,  stum- 
ble upon  a  "pay  streak"  that  will  make  the  Montezuma 
a  wealth  resort  as  well  as  a  health  resort.  On  this 
head  a  few  words  from  the  last  annual  report  of  the 
Governor  of  New  Mexico  may  be  fitly  quoted: 

"That  the  whole  mountain  region  of  New  Mexico 
presents  a  sure  prospecting  field  is  a  safe  assertion. 
To  say  that  a  few  favored  spots  at  which  developments 

Las       Vegas        Hot      Springs 

42 


The         Montezuma 


Las        Vegas        Hot        Spring 


43 


The         Montezuma 


BACK 

FROM 

THE 

MOUNTAINS 


Las       Vegas       Hot        Spr ings 


The        Montezuma 

have  taken  place — merely  points  on  the  vast  area  of 
known  mineralized  territory — show  even  a  small  part 
of  the  great  resources  of  our  mountains,  is  false.  In 
the  heart  of  the  best  developed  camps  is  still  much 
virgin  ground,  and  much  of  the  mineral-bearing  area 
has  scarcely  been  scratched  by  the  prospector's  pick. 
The  chances  in  this  Territory  to-day  are  equal  to  those 
presented  by  the  Cripple  Creek  or  Leadville  districts. 
The  chain  of  mineral  deposits  running  through  Col- 
orado are  practically  the  same  as  found  throughout  the 
entire  extent  of  New  Mexico,  superficial  conditions  and 
geological  formations  in  this  Territory  being  almost 
identical  with  those  found  in  Cripple  Creek  and  other 
rich  Colorado  camps.  Following  the  mountain  range 
from  the  northern  boundary  through  Colfax  and  Taos 
counties  to  the  southeast  through  Santa  Fe  to  Lincoln, 
and  to  the  southwest  through  Bernalillo,  Socorro,  Sier- 
ra, and  Grant  counties,  the  same  general  indications  are 
met,  the  outcroppings  being  conspicuous  and  almost 
continuous.  Many  mines  in  this  range  have  been  good 
producers  for  years,  and  new  and  valuable  finds  are 
of  almost  daily  occurrence.  At  the  present  time  de- 
velopment is  being  carried  on  more  vigorously  than  in 
the  history  of  the  Territory.  When  the  prospector  and 
investor  considers  that  this  mineralized  region  extends 
through  New  Mexico  a  distance  of  over  400  miles,  and 
strikes  almost  every  county  in  the  Territory,  he  can 
readily  see  that  it  is  the  most  attractive  field  in  the 
West.  Climatic  conditions,  which  make  it  possible  to 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 

45 


The        Montezuma 

work  the  year  around,  are  also  an  advantage  not  to  be 
overlooked." 

No  one  needs  tell  the  sportsman  of  the  joys  of  hunt- 
ing and  fishing,  and  haply  no  description  of  these 
pleasures  will  tempt  to  indulgence  one  who  has  not 
already  some  taste  in  this  direction.  However,  most 
amateurs  will  admit  that  a  large  share  of  the  pleasure 
lies  in  the  exercise,  "the  joy  of  paths  untrod,"  the 
direction  of  the  attention  away  from  self  and  daily 
cares  to  the  possible  quail  in  every  cosy  covert,  the 
possible  trout  in  every  pool  or  ripple.  In  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  the  Montezuma  there  is  little  hunting  or 
fishing,  but  after  a  vigorous  tramp  or  a  short  ride,  both 
may  be  found  to  satisfaction.  Grouse  and  quail  are 
near  at  hand  in  their  season,  and  ducks  are  plentiful 
on  the  ponds  ten  miles  across  the  plains.  By  going 
from  ten  to  thirty  miles  up  to  the  main  divide,  a  shot 
may  be  had  at  deer,  wild-cats,  or  even  bear.  Trout 
fishing  begins  at  the  Trout  Springs,  six  miles  up  the 
Gallinas,  and  improves  as  one  goes  up  toward  Harvey's 
Ranch.  Twenty  miles  away,  on  the  headwaters  of  the 
Pecos,  it  is  still  better. 

Regarding  the  fishing  on  the  Pecos,  I  quote  the 
language  of  an  appreciative  amateur,  the  late  Mr.  C.  A. 
Higgins : 

"The  Pecos  River  is  one  of  the  best  trout  streams 
in  the  United  States.  The  trout  do  not  attain  the  size 
of  those  in  the  Rio  Grande  in  the  State  of  Colorado,  but 
in  number  and  voracity  they  satisfy  the  greediest  carrier 

Las       Vegas       Hot        Springs 

46 


The         Montezuma 


Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 


47 


The         Montezuma 


READY 
FOR 


HORSEBACK 
RIDE. 


Las       Vegas       Hot        Springs 


45 


The        Montezuma 


of  a  creel.  Rarely  weighing  less  than  halt  a  pound, 
they  often  tip  the  scale  at  over  a  pound,  and  two- 
pounders  are  not  infrequently  taken.  Four  miles  be- 
yond the  Pecos  Church,  almost  on  the  river  bank,  and 
in  the  heart  of  the  best  fishing,  is  a  comfortable  ranch- 
house,  where  excellent  accommodations  in  the  way  of 
meals  and  lodging  may  be  obtained.  Here,  also,  is  the 
location  of  a  proposed  National  Park. 

"For  many  miles  the  stream  offers  the  perfection  of 
fly-fishing.  Here  and  there  are  pools  too  deep  for 
wading,  but  the  fisherman  equipped  with  hip-boots 
is  seldom  forced  to  the  bank.  Following  the  winding 
shallows,  the  entire  stream  may  be  whipped,  left  and 
right,  and  every  lurking-place  under  projecting  shore 
and  bough  explored  with  a  cast  of  flies.  In  a  delightful 
three  days  upon  this  river,  the  writer  recalls  but  two 
occasions  of  even  momentary  embarrassment  to  his 
leader  by  bush  or  branch,  and  the  avidity  with  which 
the  Pecos  trout  rise  to  a  fly,  and  the  determination 
with  which  they  resist  capture,  has  rarely  been  equaled 
in  his  experience." 

There  is  no  part  of  the  cismarine  territory  of  the 
United  States  so  full  of  interest  to  the  student  of  eth- 
nology as  New  Mexico.  At  many  points  in  the  terri- 
tory are  ancient  Pueblo  towns,  some  deserted  and  some 
still  occupied,  while  excavations  are  revealing  remains 
of  earlier  civilizations  and  historic  mementos  of  the 
earliest  Spanish  occupancy.  Pueblo  and  Navajo  Indians 
live  on  several  reservations  in  the  Territory  with  their 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 

49 


The         Montezuma 


primitive  institutions  intact,  save  that  they  no  longer  go 
on  the  warpath — unless  it  is  under  the  lead  of  Uncle 
Sam.  The  Mexicans  themselves  are  an  interesting  peo- 
ple. Their  architecture  and  customs  begin  to  be  recog- 
nized before  the  traveler  has  crossed  the  Raton  Range, 
and  there  is  no  point  in  the  Territory  where  they  are 
not  in  evidence.  Most  of  the  larger  cities  have,  like 
Las  Vegas,  an  "old  town,"  or  Mexican  side,  and  a 
"new  town,"  or  American  side.  There  is  a  Mexican 
village,  or  placita,  scarcely  more  than  a  mile  from  the 
Montezuma  Hotel,  and  another  half  way  between  the 
Hot  Springs  and  Las  Vegas.  Whoever  wishes  to  com- 
plete his  picture  of  the  Lotus  Land,  has  only  to  spend 
an  afternoon  in  a  Mexican  placita.  Incidentally,  the 
traveler  who  has  brought  his  Spanish  grammar  along 
may  profit  by  the  opportunity  to  naturalize  his  pro- 
nunciation of  the  liquid  lingua  Castiliana.  While  the 
pronunciation  of  the  Mexicans  differs  in  a  few  points 
from  that  of  Castile,  it  is  the  same  that  prevails 
throughout  Spanish-America.  There  are  educated  and 
cultivated  people  among  the  Mexicans,  whose  society 
is  worth  seeking. 


Las       Vegas       Hot       Springs 

50 


IV. 
Details  of  the  Service. 


The         Montezuma 


Las       Vegas       Hot        Springs 


52 


The        Montezuma 


Management,    Rates,    Medical    Staff,    Analysis    of 
Mineral  Waters,  Etc. 

THE  management  of  the  Montezuma  studies  to 
provide  not  only  a  first-class  hotel,  but  also 
a  cheerful  home.  There  is  an  absence  of  the 
paralyzing  pomp  and  the  distressing  display 
characteristic  of  too  many  large  hotels.  Even  the 
guests,  after  a  few  days'  stay,  come  to  take  an  interest  in 
the  institution,  and  welcome  new  arrivals  with  a  kindly 
smile,  instead  of  a  gorgonizing  stare.  The  cool  even- 
ings of  autumn  and  winter  are  passed  around  the  great 
fireplace  in  story-telling.  A  Sunday  evening  of  hymn- 
singing  in  the  parlor  recalls  the  old  folks  at  home. 

Guests  will  seldom  fail  to  find  congenial  company 
for  card  parties,  theatricals,  musicales,  games,  tramps 
and  excursions.  One  member  of  the  manager's  staff 
is  assigned  to  the  especial  oversight  of  these  matters. 

Inasmuch  as  the  Hot  Springs  has  postoffice,  tele- 
graph and  telephone  station  and  railroad  ticket  office 
of  its  own,  travelers  can  make  all  business  arrange- 
ments with  ease,  and  can  depend  upon  the  competent 
assistance  of  the  management  to  this  end. 

In  addition  to  other  conveniences  of  living  already 
enumerated,  guests  who  contemplate  any  considerable 

Las       Vegas       Hot       Springs 

53 


The        Montezuma 

sojourn  at  the  Montezuma  Hotel,  will  find  for  their 
children  good  school  facilities,  the  school  being  part  of 
the  common  school  system  of  New  Mexico,  but  prac- 
tically under  the  control  of  the  management  of  the 
hotel.  Parents  need  have  no  anxiety  regarding  the  in- 
fluences surrounding  young  people  at  the  Montezuma; 
no  better  will  be  found  about  the  best  family  hotel. 

The  rates  at  the  Montezuma  are  $2.50  to  $4  by  the 
day,  and  $14,  $16,  $17.50  and  $21  by  the  week.  Where 
two  persons  occupy  a  single  room,  a  discount  of  fifty 
cents  each  is  made  from  daily  rates,  or  about  one 
dollar  each  from  weekly  rates.  The  same  rooms  have 
a  monthly  rate  of  $52,  $60,  $65  and  $80.  Special  rates 
are  granted  parties  of  three  or  more  who  remain  a  con- 
siderable time.  A  special  discount  is  made  to  physi- 
cians. Medical  attendance  is  not  included  in  the  hotel 
rates.  Medical  rates  must  depend  upon  the  services 
and  treatment  needed  in  each  case. 

Somehow,  New  Mexico  seems  to  most  people  in  the 
East  much  farther  away  than  Colorado.  In  fact,  Las 
Vegas  is  only  about  thirty-five  miles  farther  from 
Kansas  City  via  the  Santa  Fe  than  is  Denver,  and 
the  journey  but  a  little  over  an  hour  longer.  Kansas 
almost  touches  New  Mexico,  and  people  would  be 
less  likely  to  deny  themselves  the  benefits  of  the  Las 
Vegas  Hot  Springs  if  they  only  realized  the  fact  that 
this  resort  is  quite  as  accessible  as  any  of  those  in 
Colorado — only  a  day's  journey  from  Kansas  City. 

Las       Vegas        Hot        Springs 

54 


The        Montezuma 


Las        V  e  g  as        Hot       Springs 


55 


The         Montezuma 


Las       Vegas       Hot      Spring 


The        Montezuma 

Passengers  to  California  by  the  Santa  Fe  may  ob- 
tain stop-overs  for  the  Hot  Springs,  and  draw-back 
checks  insuring  sleeping-car  accommodations,  and  will 
find  this  a  delightful  midway  station  at  which  to  spend 
a  few  weeks.  Round  trip  tickets  from  Kansas  City 
and  points  further  east  are  on  sale  at  reduced  prices, 
and  special  rates  are  made  to  those  who  spend  two 
weeks  or  more  at  the  Montezuma. 

People  of  moderate  means  should  not  overlook  the 
convenience  of  the  tourist  sleepers,  which  offer  all  the 
essential  comforts  of  the  palace  car,  at  less  than  half 
the  cost.  Many  travelers  prefer  them,  quite  apart  from 
the  lower  price. 

The  Company  has  established,  in  connection  with  the 
Montezuma  Hotel,  a  fully  equipped  staff  of  physicians 
and  nurses,  with  all  the  appliances  and  apparatus  which 
the  situation  demands.  It  has  been  demonstrated  that 
fully  fifteen  to  twenty  per  cent  more  cases  of  tuber- 
culosis recover  under  medical  supervision  than  with- 
out. This  supervision  includes  an  examination  and 
treatments  consisting  of  regulation  of  the  diet  and  ex- 
ercise, hot  fomentations,  baths  and  massage,  throat 
and  nose  treatments,  ozone  and  other  medicated  inhala- 
tions, static  electricity  and  physical  culture.  A  chart 
is  kept,  recording  the  temperature  and  pulse  rate,  num- 
ber of  hours  spent  in  the  open  air  each  day,  and  number 
of  hours  patient  sleeps  each  night,  with  record  of  medi- 
cines given  and  treatments  applied. 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 

57 


The        Montezuma 

Every  case  of  chronic  malaria,  rheumatism,  kidney 
trouble  or  neuralgic  affection  is  looked  after  in  the 
same  careful  way,  proper  baths  and  directions  for 
drinking  the  waters  being  prescribed  for  each  case, 
and  a  record  kept  of  the  same.  Static,  galvanic  and 
Faradic  electricity  is  used  in  addition  to  the  baths  for 
the  treatment  of  these  cases,  and  a  special  hot  air 
apparatus  has  been  found  beneficial  occasionally. 

At  the  head  of  the  medical  staff  is  Dr.  David  S. 
Perkins,  a  graduate  of  both  the  Cleveland  and  the 
Jefferson  Medical  Colleges,  and  for  some  eighteen 
years  a  practicing  physician  of  Cleveland.  All  the 
nurses  and  attendants  are  graduates  of  the  best  institu- 
tions in  their  respective  lines.  Dr.  Perkins  has  at  his 
service,  in  addition  to  the  various  baths  referred  to,  a 
Kellogg  electric  light  bath,  a  Waite  &  Bartlett  static 
machine,  with  X-Ray  attachment,  the  best  of  chloride 
of  silver  batteries,  both  galvanic  and  Faradic,  oil  nebu- 
lizers and  sprays  operated  by  compressed  air,  with  an 
ozone  inhaler  attachment,  and  a  laboratory  fitted  up 
with  microscopes  and  apparatus  for  the  examination 
of  blood,  urine  and  sputum. 

The  utmost  care  is  taken  with  the  sanitation  of  the 
building  and  grounds.  The  hotel  sewage  is  conducted 
several  miles  down  the  valley,  and  converted  by  the 
Berlin  system  to  the  uses  of  the  hotel  farm  garden. 
Expectorating  upon  the  premises  is  prohibited.  On  the 
vacating  of  a  room  which  has  been  occupied  by  a  pa- 
tient affected  with  tuberculosis,  it  is  subjected  to  a 

Las       Vegas       Hot       Springs 

58 


The        Montezuma 

thorough  disinfection  by  formaldehyde  gas.  Cuspi- 
dors are  conveniently  located,  and  frequently  and  anti- 
septically  cleaned.  These  precautions  are  not  observed 
in  most  Western  hotels,  and  the  Montezuma  is  conse- 
quently an  exceptionally  safe  stopping  place  for  tran- 
sient, as  well  as  permanent  guests.  No  person  suffer- 
ing from  advanced  tuberculosis  or  from  any  obnoxious 
or  incurable  disease  is  received  at  the  hotel.  This  may 
be  the  proper  place  to  say  that  the  altitude  of  the  Hot 
Springs  is  not  a  safe  one  for  persons  suffering  with 
advanced  tuberculosis  or  valvular  weakness  of  the 
heart. 

Those  desiring  advice  as  to  the  adaptability  of  the 
climate  and  waters  and  of  the  treatment  to  individual 
cases  are  invited  to  confer  freely  by  mail  with  the  phy- 
sician in  charge,  addressing  him  at  The  Montezuma. 

Despite  the  thorough  preparation  for  the  treatment 
of  incipient  tuberculosis,  neuralgia,  gout,  rheumatism 
and  kidney  complaints,  the  atmosphere  of  the  Monte- 
zuma Hotel  is  not  at  all  that  of  invalidism.  The  pro- 
portion of  persons  in  delicate  health  averages  only 
about  one-third  of  the  patronage — less  than  at  most 
noted  Southwestern  resorts.  Here,  as  everywhere, 
there  are  people  who  will  tell  of  their  aches  and  pains, 
but  the  general  air  of  the  guests  and  patients  is  one  of 
hopefulness  and  cheer  and  joy  of  life. 

There  is  a  charge  of  $5  for  the  first  physical  examina- 
tion, and  a  charge  of  $5  for  the  first  microscopic  ex- 

Las       Vegas         Hot       Springs 

59 


The        Montezuma 

amination  of  sputum.  Subsequent  examinations  are 
without  extra  expense.  Guests  suffering  from  rheuma- 
tism and  kindred  ailments,  and  desiring  medical  treat- 
ment, pay  from  $5  to  $8  per  week,  this  fee  including 
all  consultations,  nursing  and  the  above  baths,  so  far 
as  prescribed.  Patients  in  tuberculosis,  who  are  re- 
quired to  follow  closely  the  advice  of  the  medical  direc- 
tor, pay  not  to  exceed  $20  per  month,  which  also  in- 
cludes all  baths  and  treatments.  Extra  charges  are 
made  when  patients  are  confined  to  bed.  The  only 
charge  not  included  here  is  an  extra  allowance  for  a 
second  bed  in  case  patients  wish  to  sleep  out  of  doors, 
as  many  do  with  great"  benefit.  Consultation  and  treat- 
ment for  casual  acute  sickness  are  charged  for  in 
accordance  with  prevalent  local  rates. 


The   Mineral   Waters. 

While  a  chemical  analysis  has  no  particular  value  for 
the  average  unprofessional  reader,  it  is  a  certificate  of 
character  to  such  as  understand  its  meaning.  The 
waters  of  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  have  been  subjected 
to  careful  test  by  Dr.  Walter  S.  Haines,  Professor  of 
Chemistry,  Rush  Medical  College,  who  states  that  in 
many  respects  they  resemble  in  chemical  composition 
the  waters  of  the  famous  hot  springs  of  Teplitz  and  of 
Carlsbad,  and  finds  them  to  contain  special  ingredients 

Las       Vegas       Hot        Springs 

60 


The        Montezuma 

in   the   amounts   set    down   below,    for   every   standard 

gallon : 

Carbonate  of  Calcium 0.89  grains. 

Carbonate  of  Magnesium 0.15 

Carbonate  of  Sodium 8.38 

Carbonate  of  Potassium 0.28 

Sulphate  of  Sodium 3.35 

Chloride  of  Sodium 14.68 

Silica 3.50 

Alumina      0.10      " 

Volatile  and  Organic  Matter 0.32 

Carbonate  of  Lithium Traces. 

Bromide  of  Sodium Trace. 

Total 31.65  grains. 

This  water,  from  Spring  No.  6,  is  used  altogether  for 
drinking  purposes  by  the  guests  of  the  Montezuma 
Hotel,  and  the  fact  that  few  of  them  recognize  it  as 
mineral  water,  says  everything  for  the  absence  of  any 
disagreeable  taste  connected  with  it. 

Another  spring  that  has  been  found  of  peculiar  bene- 
fit in  digestive  troubles,  is  known  as  the  Sulphur 
Spring.  An  analysis  of  the  water  from  this  spring  has 
recently  been  made  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Powers,  of  Topeka. 
The  mineral  analysis  of  this  spring  is  here  given  in 
parts  per  100,000: 

Organic  and  Volatile 2.500 

Potassium  Sulphate  8.890 

Potassium  Chloride 7.620 

Sodium  Chloride 21.870 

Sodium  Sulphate 

Sodium  Carbonate  

Sodium  Bicarbonate  1.180 

Iron  Bicarbonate .110 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 


The        Montezuma 

Calcium  Bicarbonate  1.730 

Magnesium  Bicarbonate 

Lithium  Bicarbonate .020 

Sodium  Biborate .410 

Sodium  Silicate 2.850 

Sodium  Phosphate .100 

Sodium  Hyposulphite .170 

Silica 4.250 

Potassium  Bromide Trace. 

Aluminum  Sulphate .330 

52.030 

Temperature  of  the  water  in  degrees  Fah- 
renheit   124 

Sanitary  analysis  of  the  same  spring  shows : 

Total  Solids 53.5 

Volatile  Solids 2.5 

Nitrogen  as  Free  Ammonia .03 

Nitrogen  as  Albuminoid  Ammonia .006 

Nitrogen  as  Nitrates Trace. 

Nitrogen  as  Nitrites None. 

Oxygen  Consumed .537 

Chlorine 16.06 

This  water  has  a  decided  saline  and  sulphur  taste, 
and  fresh  from  the  spring  is  very  palatable.  When  this 
water  is  taken  before  meals,  regularly,  the  amount 
being  prescribed  to  fit  each  individual  case,  the  effects 
are  decided  in  character,  and  very  beneficial. 

Other  spring  waters  are  used  in  the  natatorium, 
which  resemble  No.  6  in  analysis.  The  cold  water 
used  to  cool  the  naturally  hot  spring  water  at  the  bath- 
house and  natatorium  is  derived  from  Springs  No.  20, 
21,  22  and  23,  and  allowed  to  cool  in  tanks. 


Las       Ve  g a 


Hot       Springs 


62 


The        Montezuma 

The  mineral  analysis  of  this  cold  water  collected 
from  the  four  springs  above  mentioned,  is  as  follows: 

Organic  and  Volatile 2.000 

Potassium  Sulphate 8.500 

Potassium  Chloride 7.270 

Sodium  Chloride 20.760 

Sodium  Sulphate  ... 

Sodium  Carbonate 

Sodium  Bicarbonate  2.690 

Iron  Bicarbonate .110 

Calcium  Bicarbonate 1.880 

Magnesium  Bicarbonate 

Lithium  Bicarbonate .020 

Sodium  Biborate.... .910 

Sodium  Silicate 10.060 

Sodium  Phosphate .030 

Sodium  Hyposulphite 

Silica - 980 

Potassium  Bromide Trace. 

Aluminium  Sulphate .330 

55.540 

The  following  baths,  with  prices  for  the  same  to 
people  not  under  medical  treatment,  are  given  at  the 
bath-house.  Patients  under  treatment  are  given  these 
baths  as  needed,  under  their  weekly  or  monthly  rate: 


Prices  of  Baths. 

1.  Peat    $200 

2.  Peat  and  Massage 3  oo 

3.  Series   Ten   Peat  Baths 1800 

4.  Tub   Bath    35 

L  as       Vegas       Ho  t       Springs 


The        Montezuma 

5.  Tub  and  Massage    $  i  50 

6.  Tub   and   Plunge 50 

7.  Shower    25 

8.  Shower  and  Oil  Rub 75 

9.  Shower  and   Salt  Glow 75 

10.  Shower  and  Shampoo 75 

11.  Shower  and   Massage i  50 

12.  Shower,  Salt  Glow  and  Massage 2  oo 

13.  Massage    i  50 

14.  Vapor    .' 75 

15.  Vapor,  Shower  and  Massage 2  oo 

16.  Vapor,   Shower  and  Plunge i  oo 

17.  Fomentations    50 

18.  Alcohol  Rub   25 

19.  Plunge    35 

20.  Electro-Thermal  Baths   i  oo 

21.  Electro-Thermal   Baths  with  Massage 200 

22.  Series     Ten     Electro-Thermal     Baths     with 

Massage    1800 

A  reduction  in  price  is  made  for  any  of  the  baths  or 
treatments  when  taken  in  a  series  of  ten  or  more. 


Las       Vegas       Hot       Spring 

64 


V. 
Notes  About  New  Mexico. 


The        Montezuma 


FORDING 

THE 

GALLINAS. 


RECEPTION 
AND 

WAITING 
ROOM. 


Las        Vega 


Hot       Spring 


66 


The        Montezuma 


Some  Other  New  Mexican  Resorts, 

5O  far  as  agreeable  and  healthful  climate  is  con- 
cerned, it  is  almost  impossible  to  locate  amiss  in 
New  Mexico.  Considerations  of  health  or  of 
business  may  make  it  impossible  to  choose  Las 
Vegas,  and  we  call  attention  to  the  following  resorts, 
each  of  which  has  its  peculiar  advantages : 

Carlsbad,  in  the  Pecos  Valley,  is  in  a  beautiful  farm- 
ing region,  and  near  to  valuable  mines.  It  is  3>ooo 
feet  lower  than  the  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs,  and  has 
considerably  higher  temperature.  There  are  mineral 
springs  of  qualities  similar  to  those  at  Las  Vegas,  but 
differing  in  having  chloride  and  sulphate  of  magnesia. 

The  Coyote  Hot  Springs,  twelve  miles  from  Albu- 
querque, and  the  Hudson  Hot  Springs,  twenty-five 
miles  north  of  Deming,  have  about  the  same  altitude, 
being  both  about  1,500  feet  lower  than  Las  Vegas. 
This,  and  their  more  southern  latitude,  make  them 
slightly  warmer  than  the  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs. 
Their  waters  have  qualities  similar  to  those  of  the  Las 
Vegas  springs.  Hudson  offers  the  advantages  of  an 
excellent  modern  hotel. 

The  Jemez  Hot  Springs,  about  fifty  miles  north  of 
Albuquerque,  and  reached  from  there  by  wagon,  and 
Ojo  Caliente,  fifty  miles  north  of  Santa  Fe,  and  twelve 
miles  from  Barranca,  on  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande 
Railway,  being  reached  from  the  latter  point  by  stage, 

Las       Vegas       Hot       Springs 

67 


The        Montezuma 

are  resorts  at  about  the  same  altitude  as  Las  Vegas,  and 
differing  little  from  it  in  climate.  Jemez  has  a  hot 
geyser,  waters  of  which  are  recommended  for  rheumatic 
sufferers,  and  is  a  popular  camping  resort.  Ojo 
Caliente  is  an  old  and  famous  locality,  having  been 
visited  by  Cabeca  de  Vaca.  Its  waters  contain,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  elements  found  in  other  New  Mexican 
springs,  lithium  and  arsenic.  Lithium,  as  is  well 
known,  is  much  prescribed  for  rheumatism.  There  are 
comfortable  hotel  accommodations  at  Ojo  Caliente,  and 
preparations  are  making  to  enlarge  and  improve  them. 

Details  regarding  these  and  other  New  Mexican 
points  are  furnished  in  the  booklet,  "New  Mexico 
Health  Resorts,"  which  will  be  sent  on  application, 
or  can  be  had  of  any  agent  of  the  Santa  Fe. 

Expert  Testimony. 

The  conviction  of  some  of  the  best  authorities  in 
the  world  regarding  the  question  of  the  relation  of 
climate  to  the  cure  of  tuberculosis  is  manifested  in  the 
recent  action  of  the  U.  S.  Government  in  establishing 
two  sanitaria  for  tuberculous  patients  in  New  Mexico, 
one  for  soldiers  at  Fort  Bayard,  and  the  other  for 
marines  at  Fort  Stanton.  Government  experts  went  over 
the  whole  possible  field,  and  finally  determined  upon 
New  Mexico  as  the  best  location  for  such  hospitals,  the 
precise  place  being  determined  by  the  ease  of  acquiring 
and  developing  the  property.  The  specific  advantage 
of  New  Mexico  over  other  territories  was  found  to 
be  "the  mild  winters  combined  with  delightfully  cool 

Las       Vegas       Hot       Springs 

68 


The        Montezuma 

summers,  and  a  generous  water  supply."  A  prime 
consideration  in  locating  these  sanitaria  in  New  Mexico 
was  the  reports  of  army  physicians  for  years  past, 
showing  the  comparative  death-rate  from  tuberculosis 
in  various  localities.  The  number  of  deaths  per  1,000 
from  this  cause  were:  West  Coast  of  Florida,  6.9;  New 
York,  5.9;  New  England,  4.8;  on  the  Great  Lakes, 
4.5;  Texas  Coast,  4;  Western  Texas,  3.9;  Eastern 
Florida,  2.3;  New  Mexico,  1.3. 

Though  these  sanitaria  have  been  in  operation  but 
one  year,  each  has  turned  out  ten  to  twelve  per  cent  of 
patients  cured,  and  from  twenty  to  forty  per  cent  de- 
cidedly improved.  The  Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  offer 
all  the  advantages  of  Fort  Stanton,  with  the  addition 
of  the  mineral  waters  and  baths  and  first-class  hotel 
accommodations. 

Government  Believes  in  Climate.  ,        ; 

From  a  vast  quantity  of  unsought  expert  testimony 
regarding  the  therapeutic  effect  of  the  climate  of  New 
Mexico,  the  following  passages  are  extracted.  To  the 
judgment  here  given  there  is  practically  not  a  dissent- 
ing voice: 

"I  think  that  New  Mexico  surpasses  any  locality  for 
consumntives  I  have  yet  visited,  and  I  have  been  all 
over  California,  Colorado,  the  South,  the  Sandwich 
Islands  and  Europe.  *  *  *  I  am  decidedly  of  the 
opinion  that  the  region  visited  is,  for  consumptives, 
superior  to  any  other  part  of  the  United  States  or  the 
world,  of  which  I  have  any  practical  knowledge. — J.  F. 
DANTER,  M.  D.,  in  Medical  Visitor. 

Las       Vegas       Hot        Springs 


The        Montezuma 

"New  Mexico  is  by  far  the  most  favorable  residence 
in  the  United  States  for  those  predisposed  to  or  affected 
with  phthisis.  *  *  *  In  a  service  of  three  years  in 
New  Mexico,  during  which  period  I  served  at  eight 
different  stations,  I  saw  but  three  cases  of  phthisis, 
and  these  were  in  persons  recently  arrived  from  else- 
where."— W.  A.  HAMMOND,  ex-Surgeon-General  U.  S. 
A. 

Some  time  ago,  a  party  of  medico-scientists,  commis- 
sioned by  the  Societe  Medicate  of  France  arrived  in 
New  Mexico,  after  inspecting  many  parts  of  the  world 
held  in  high  esteem  as  winter  and  summer  resorts  for 
consumptives. 

"Their  object  in  thus  journeying  was  to  examine  and 
report  upon  the  sanitary  qualifications  of  these  different 
localities,  and  countries,  the  end  in  view  being  the 
location  of  a  large  sanatorium  for  the  treatment  of  con- 
sumption. The  commission  (with,  we  believe,  the  ex- 
ception of  one  member  personally  interested  in  another 
locality)  reported  upon  New  Mexico  as  in  every  respect 
better  suited  for  such  a  purpose  than  any  country  they 
had  visited,  including  far-famed  Algeria  and  other 
places  heretofore  noted  as  health  resorts,  especially 
emphasizing  the  fact  that  a  case  of  consumption  was 
never  known  to  have  originated  in  New  Mexico." 

Those  interested  may  also  consult  on  the  subject: 
Dr.  George  Halley,  Kansas  City  Medical  College;  Dr. 
O.  D.  Walker,  Keokuk  Medical  College,  Keokuk,  Iowa ; 
Dr.  E.  W.  Schauffler,  of  the  American  Climatological 
Association;  Dr.  Gatchell,  of  the  Medical  Era;  Dr. 
F.  H.  Atkins,  of  The  Climatologist;  Dr.  F.  E.  Waxam, 
of  the  Chicago  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons; 
Dr.  J.  F.  McConnell,  of  Las  Cruces,  N.  M. ;  Dr.  S. 
D.  Swope,  of  Deming,  N.  M. ;  Dr.  L.  W.  Lusher,  Kan- 
sas City,  Mo. ;  Acting  Assistant  Surgeon  J.  H.  Hep- 
burn, Ft.  Bayard,  N.  M. ;  Dr.  J.  O.  Cobb,  Ft.  Stanton, 
N.  M.,  and  others. 

Las       Vegas        Hot       Springs 

70 


Distance  and   Altitude. 


« 

a  . 

a* 

a* 

II 

88 

0  £ 

£  v 

3^ 

PLACES. 

09  U 

»2 

> 

03   fl 

2^ 

£'£ 

V   (0 

V  g 

|U 

ys 

*M 

sp 

33 

RATON  

1,134 

675 

285 

6  622 

SPRINGER    

1,174 

716 

325 

5  768 

LAS  VEGAS  

1,245 

786 

396 

6  384 

Las  Vegas  Hot  Springs  . 

1,251 

793 

402 

6,767 

SANTA  FE    

1,328 

869 

479 

6,939 

ALBUQUERQUE     

1,377 

918 

528 

4,933 

JEMEZ  HOT  SPRINGS  .  .   . 

1,422 

963 

573 

6,620 

SULPHUR  SPRINGS   .... 

1,434 

975 

585 

8,250 

CAMP  WHITCOMB     .... 

1,395 

936 

546 

8,000 

Ojo  CALIENTE  

1,378 

919 

529 

6,292 

Los  LUNAS  

1,397 

938 

548 

4,833 

SOCORRO  

1,452 

994 

603 

4,567 

SAN  MARCIAL    

1,479 

1,021 

630 

4,439 

LAS  CRUCES   

1,587 

1,128 

738 

3,873 

EL  PASO  

1,630 

1,172 

781 

3,687 

DEMING   

1,607 

1,149 

758 

4,315 

SILVER  CITY  

1,655 

1,197 

806 

5,796 

CARLSBAD  (See  notet)     .   . 

1,326 

868 

1,083 

3,200 

*  Distances  from  Denver  are  figured  via  La  Junta.  The  present 
most  direct  train  service  is  via  Pueblo  and  Trinidad  which  shortens 
the  distance  about  fifty-five  miles  to  each  destination  named. 

t  Mileage  from  Chicago  and  Kansas  City  is  computed  via  Ama- 
rillo;  from  Denver  via  El  Paso. 


71 


ANNOUNCEMENT. 
Jl 

This  is  one  of  a  series  of  publications,  issued  by  the 
Santa  Fe,  descriptive  of  the  various  health  and  pleasure 
resorts  along  its  line  in  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Arizona 
and  California. 

Copies  of  the  other  books  will  be  mailed  on  application. 


Ad.  66.    9-9- '01.    5M. 


